Can receive, but not send POP3 messages with my freenetname.co.uk account

[#1]

I have a POP3 account and am using Thunderbird, which works okay with my TalkTalk account.

When I try to send a message with my freenetname.co.uk account, I now get a pop-up:

    Login to account "smtp.freenetname.co.uk" failed.

    Login to server smtp.freenetname.co.uk with username xxxxxxxxx failed.

I then get an error message:

'Sending of the message failed.
Unable to authenticate to Outgoing server (SMTP) smtp.freenetname.co.uk. Please check the password and verify the  'Authentication method' in 'Account Settings | Outgoing server (SMTP)'.

I don't know exactly when this problem started, but believe that I could send messages from this account a year or so ago.

I can receive messages without any trouble, so presume my password & account settings are correct.

SMTP server settings are:

   Port 587

   Connection Security: STARTTLS

   Authentication method: Normal Password

When I tried checking the www.freenetname.co.uk with the IDSERVE.EXE utility (a free download, courtesy of Gibson Research Corporation) it came back with the following:

    Initiating server query ...
    Looking up IP address for domain: www.freenetname.co.uk
    The IP address for the domain is: 212.159.9.56
    Connecting to the server on standard HTTP port: 80
    [Connected]  Requesting the server's default page.
    The server returned the following response headers:
    HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
    Server: Apache
    Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
    Date: Sun, 26 May 2024 20:53:20 GMT
    Location: http://www.madasafish.com/
    Keep-Alive: timeout=10, max=100
    Connection: close
    X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
    Content-Length: 305
    Query complete

As Freenetname has been taken over by Plusnet, do I need to change the server name or strengthen my old password, (which does not meet Plusnet's current requirements of including upper-case characters, lower-case characters, numbers & special characters) and/or change other settings?

Can anyone help?

Thank you.

[#2]

When did this error start, and when did you move to TalkTalk?

[#3]

I transferred to Talktalk in about 2014,about the time that Freeserve shut down.

Am not sure when problem started, but beleive it was about a year or more ago.

[#4]

@David_Q 

Take a look at this link

https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/How-to-change-your-outgoing-server-on-a-mail-client/m-p/1606155#... 

It suggests smtpmail.freenetname.co.uk

HTH

[#5]

I have never used Freeserve, but do they/did they still allow you to use their mail server for sending when you have left them - many ISPs don't.

I am not sure about these legacy accounts- maybe @MisterW can help here?

[#6]

Moderator's note(s):

Thread moved from Broadband to Email.

[#7]

Dan_the_Van (Aspiring Hero)

Thank you, but changing to smtpmail.freenetname.co.uk didn't work.

Could it be due to my freenetname password strength being too weak? I recently had to upgrade my Talktalk account password strength since messages were not coming through.

[#8]

@jab1 not sure I know that much about the legacy accounts.

[#9]

OK, @MisterW , just thought you may know more than me, but I have a suspicion the OP can't do what they want, anyway.

[#10]

Best place to check username/password pair would be to use webmail, not sure if that is an option here.

I found a thread with this statement https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Accessing-my-Freenetname-mails-in-Outlook/m-p/1852072#M38437  I know it's for outlook but the port settings and server names would be the same.

Hopefully it is still true.

[#11]

As the OP is no longer a FNN/PN customer, they would need to authenticate to use these mail servers - can they do so?

[#12]

I am aware of the server setup when off network for free-online, hopefully someone else can help who still uses freenetname

[@Dan_the_Van]

@MisterW , @Townman , @Dan_the_Van , @jab1 , @Mav

Thank you all for your suggestions & links; I hope that I've replied to everyone, as this is my first multiple reply.

I've tried many combinations of ports, servers, authentication type & passwords, unfortunately nothing works.

I will just have to keep this old freenetname.co.uk account for only receiving messages & use my TalkTalk account for sending & receiving.

Thank you all again for your assistance.

[#14]

@David_Q 

Have you tried logging into the mailbox using Webmail and verified that you can send emails via the Webmail client?

Have you seen this topic on the recommended settings for SMTP configuration - https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/How-to-change-your-outgoing-server-on-a-mail-client/m-p/1606155#...  -try this on port 587 without encryption.

You could try doing a full diagnostic test - it might offer refinement of the connection error...

Test SMTP authentication

Email programs often report username / password error for issues not actually related to those being wrong, but for other connectivity issues. Such can be very frustrating when you are convinced that they are correct. Testing SMTP authentication through a command line interface can deliver a more precise error message. The following describes how to do this using TELNET.

This is not difficult, but you need the following resources which might be unfamiliar...

1. TELNET - this might need installing as an additional option, for Windows see enabling TELNET.
2. A code64 encoder / decoder such as this.

You can use TELNET to communicate direct with the SMTP server as follows...

Open the code64 encoder in a web browser and leave ready for use in the following steps.

Launch a windows command line window (DOS window) - press windows-key+R - type CMD into the run box - click OK

Enter...

telnet relay.plus.net 587

Press enter. Note if you use one of the other brand email services, use the appropriate SMTP server name for that brand. In response to SMTP server I'm here message, say 'HELLO'...

EHLO relay.plus.net

The SMTP server will then report what it can do after which tell the server you wish to authenticate...

AUTH login

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your username:

334 VXNlcm5hbWU6

Use the code64 encoder to encode your username and paste it into the telnet window and press enter. For example:

bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your password:

334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6

Paste the base64 encoded password for the username. For example:

bXlwYXNzd29yZA==

The server will then report success or failure, any failure message should clearly indicate the reason for the failure. If the reason for the failure is not clear, please report back the message.

Close the SMTP / TELNET session by entering

quit

The session should look something similar to the below wherein your input is in bold...

220 avasout03 smtp relay.plus.net
EHLO relay.plus.net
250-avasout03 hello [your IP address], pleased to meet you
250-HELP
250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN
250-SIZE 104857600
250-PIPELINING
250-8BITMIME
250-STARTTLS
250 OK
AUTH LOGIN
334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==
334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
bXlwYXNzd29yZA==
235 ... authentication succeeded
quit
221 avasout03 smtp closing connection
Connection to host lost.

Here are some examples of failure responses...

535 ...authentication rejected [as username / password is wrong]
535 ...authentication rejected as source IP has a poor reputation
535 Too many SMTP auth failures. Please try again later.

[#15]

@Townman 

The above method to confirm email authentication assumes you have a Plusnet email address.

So in this case you would need to use freenetname mail server smtp.freenetname.co.uk or smtpmail.freenetname.co.uk (which ever is correct) NOT plus.net